Mail-bag rack for mail-cars.



D. H. BORGMEYER.

MAIL BAG RACK FOR MAIL CARS.

APPLICATION FILED DEO.1, 1911.

Patented Aug. 13, 1912.

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DAVID E. BOBGKEYER, OF 8'1 CHARLES, MISSOURI.

MAIL-BAG nacx ron MAIL-cans.

Specificationof Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 13, 1912.

Application filed December 1, 1911. Serial No. 668,212.

To all whom it may concern: I

Be it known that I,'DAvin H. BOBGMEYER, a citizen of the United Statesof America, and a resident of St. Charles, in the county 5 of St.Charles and State of Missouri, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Mail-Bag Racks for Mail-Cars, of which the followin is afull, clear, and exact description, re. erence being had to the taccompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification.

My invention relates to racks or articulated hanger frames forsupporting open mail bags or pouches while mail is being distributed andplaced therein by postal employees, the rack to which my presentinvention pertains being of the kind utilized in railway mail cars.

The object of the resent invention is the 56 production of a folding bagrack that may be contracted into a small compass when not in use, andwhich includes foldable props or legs of novel construction.

The props or legs of my mail bag rack B5 are so designed and their partsso arranged relative to each other as to permit of their automaticallyassuming their serviceable positions when the rack is unfolded, andretaining their utility positions without fas- BO tening devices of anykind, and it is in such construction and arrangement that my improvementresides.

Figure I is an end, elevation of my mail bag rack. Fig. II is a frontelevation of the B5 rack.

In the accompanying drawings: A designates an articulated hanger framecomprising a pair of links or side bars 1 having return hooks 1 andconnected by hanger l0 rods 2, the latter beingequipped with anydesirable number of hooks 3 from which mail bags may be suspended. Theside bars of the frame A are hinged at their inner ends to brackets 4:that are secured to the 4 wall of a railway mail car to permit of theframe occupying the elevated position seen' in full lines,'Figs. I andII, and also being lowered into the position seen in dotted lines Fig.I.

The articulated hanger frame A is sustained in inclined serviceableposition so as to present hanger rods in stepped arrangement by foldableprops or toggle links having pivotal connection with the free ends ofthe return hooks of the side bars 1 of the hanger frame, and also havingpivotal connection with the floor of the railway mail car. These toggleseach comprise a lower link 5 pivoted to a foot iece 6 that is se curedto the car floor. T ey also each comprise an upper link 7 that is ivotedto a return hook on the side bar 0 the hanger frame and has pivotalconnection 8 with the lower link ata distance from its lower end.Thenpper link 7 of each toggle is furnished with a hook extension 9 thatprojects beyond the pivot 8 and lies arallel with the lower link section5. ThlS hook extension is in turn formed with a laterally extending hook10 that abuts against and embraces the lower link when the two linksections are unfolded and adjusted into the positions they assume Whilesupporting the hanger frame A.

When my mail bag rack has been in a folded condition and it is desiredto place it in condition for service, it is only necessary to lift thehanger frame A from its lowered position, during which action the upperlink sections 7 are first swun upwardly with said hanger frame, and tereafter exert a pull upon the upper ends of the lower link sections todraw them outwardly until the two sections of each prop of the rackbecome alined with each other and occupy a common inclined lane beneaththe hanger frame. Immediately after the link sections have assumed therelation mentioned, the twosections of each toggle gravitate forwardly,as permitted by the form of joint connecting them, until they havepassed sli htly out of alinement with each other an become deadlocked,owing to their having passed a dead center.

It will be apparent that by the described construction I have produced amail bag rack in which the toggle links move automatically to theirlocked supporting positions. when the hanger arm of the rack iselevated; and it will be understood that the rack may be readily andquickly folded by the simple act of pressing the pivotally connectedends of the lmk sections rearwardly to permit of the links assumingtheir folded positions. It will further be apparent that when the linksmove to their folded positions, the hanger frame presses against thelinks, as illustrated in dotted lines Fig. 1, and the entire rackmaintains its folded condition without liability of assuming the actionof any of its members.

The side bars of the hanger frame A are provided with the hooked orcurved forward ends 1, to which the upper links 7 are pivoted. Thisconstruction is desirable, for the reason that it provides for the sidebars of the hanger frame being se arated from the upper links when therack is folded, and obviates the liability of apersons fingers becomingcaught between the parts mentioned, if the hanger frame is held in thehand during the folding of the rack.

I claim A mail bag rack for mail cars comprising an articulated hangerframe having inclined side bars each formed with a return hook, steppedhanger rods connecting the side bars, bag hooks threaded on the hangerbars, side brackets adapted to be secured to the Wall of a, car and toWhich the side bars are pivoted, foot pieces adapted to be secured tothe floor of a car and foldable props each comprising a lower linkpivoted at its inner end to a foot piece, and an upper link pivoted atits inner end to a hook of a side bar, and its outer end pivoted to theother end of the lower link and having a hook extension beyond the pivotof the links formed with a laterally extending hook.

DAVID H. BORGMEYER. In the presence ot FRANK KISTER, J. G. LAWLER.

